The PDF format was created to let users share important documents with many people without them having to install or use particular software. It is a universal document format that lets people disseminate information across many user platforms without experiencing compatibility issues. The format has been around since the early 1990s. It was largely available only to specific users given that it had specific software to create and use it. But over the years several programs have emerged that let everyday users manipulate and edit PDFs without having to download or purchase specialized software.
What Is a PDF?
The PDF (portable document format) was created by the Adobe software company to allow text documents to be created and shared with a wide number of people without presenting compatibility problems. The creation of the PDF allowed many people to be able to share documents with others no matter the operating system or software they were running.
With the rise of digital documents, PDFs and similar document formats replaced the largely paper-based way of sharing documents to several different users. Nowadays, PDFs are widely used by all sorts of users from students to scholars as well as private organizations to governments.
How Can You Edit a PDF File?
While PDFs were heralded as an important new means of communication and information sharing, they were largely untouchable. The format was set at its creation and changing or rearranging any elements was virtually impossible. That all changed as software programs emerged to let users manipulate their PDFs.
Adobe, as creators of the format, was the first to release specialized software to deal with the editing or manipulation of PDFs with its Acrobat software suite. The software remains the gold standard for PDF manipulation. But its specialized features and high-level of customization options are aimed more at regular users.
Web-based or downloadable PDF editing software has since emerged to make editing and organizing PDFs much easier for the casual user. These programs offer a variety of different editing options, usually for free, but often, more advanced features are offered for a premium. These programs, like Lumin PDF, let users perform several different functions that can be done without having to buy specialized software like Adobe Acrobat.
How to Edit a PDF With Google Docs
Google Docs allows users to open PDF files but only in a viewing format. Making changes to the original PDF format is more difficult but not impossible. Users can open a PDF file in Google Docs, but two things will happen:
- Most, if not all, of the formatting, will be lost
- The text segments of the PDF will be able to be edited
The primary reason to open a PDF in Google Docs is to have easy access to the text to make changes. Users can make their intended changes to the document and then save the document as a new PDF, which a program like Google Docs allows, but it is not the only one. Users can also Print the new document and then send it to the Print as a PDF option in the drop-down box.
Apps or Programs To Edit PDF Files
Ever since the PDF file was introduced there has been a steady increase in the number of different editing software available for the format. These programs arose out of the widespread use of PDFs as well as the need to use a program that did not cost so much to buy or need so much expertise to use.
What used to take a long time before with software like Adobe Acrobat now only takes a few clicks with online PDF editors. Some programs are web-based, downloadable for desktop, as well as for use with mobile phones. These programs like Lumin PDF offer a wide variety of editing features but so much more.
A program like Lumin PDF, which is available in many formats including as a mobile application, lets users add or remove text, add annotations and highlights, as well as merging and splitting functions to make PDF files smaller and easier to use. Lumin PDF even lets users secure their important PDF files with password protection and by adding digital signatures.
